Brussels, 02/10/2006 (Agence Europe) - A Eurobarometer survey, which has just been published by the European Commission, stresses that the vast majority of the citizens of the Union (95%) know that it is possible to contract the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from contact with an infected needle, contaminated blood or from sexual intercourse. However, the survey goes on to reveal that that are a great many misunderstandings. Only 40% of those asked knew that it was not possible to contract the virus from a kiss. The French (69%), Danish (59%) and Dutch (58%) recorded the highest rates of correct answers. But 44% of Lithuanians, 38% of Cypriots and 47% of Slovakians still believe that it is possible to catch the virus in this way. Similarly, although 96% of the Dutch and 93% of the French knew that it is impossible to contract the virus by shaking hands with an infected person, this rate falls rapidly: only 71% of Italians, 63% of Lithuanians and 62% of Slovakians are aware of this. It is worth noting that the scoreboard was lower in Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, but higher in Portugal and Germany, in comparison to the results of a similar survey conducted in 2002.
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